We came across this Puffie in KNP in Feb this year and it was acting quite strangely, not sure if a car had hit it or what as it didn't seem to have any obvious damage but it was writhing about and at one point even rolled over onto its back and then over again and it had its mouth open a lot of the time as well.

Prof Graeme Alexander from Wits university did some research on puffadders. The puffies were falsely accused of attacking everything that moves. He decided to do an experiment and attached a radio transmitter to a pufadder and released it in a game reserve, to test its reaction. He attached a boot to a stick and followed the puffie. He placed the boot 5cm from the nose of the snake, but nothing happened. He then placed the boot on top of the snake, but, without any reaction. The prof then made the deduction a snake only reacts in extreme circumstances.

Will Prof Alexander convince me to scratch the back of a puffadder? (No, I will rather kiss a croc.)

I have experience of being the third person to step over a large puffadder that was hidden under thick grass in the centre of a drainage line , It was the rustling of the grass which alerted me to its presence .

I have seen pictures on this forum of puffadders being picked up with braai tongs and have read of an incident where a person was bitten when ushering a puffadder into a plastic container using the lid of the container .I believe urban legend is largely responsible for their reputation , though who would ever know what the puffadders mood is at any particular time .. ?

KNP is sacred.I am opposed to the modernisation of Kruger and from the depths of my soul long for the Kruger of yesteryear! 1000+km on foot in KNP incl 56 wild trails.200+ nights in the wildernessndloti-indigenous name for serval.

kellyee21 wrote:We saw this puff adder on the H6 near Satara on May 4 2013. He was lying on the side of the road on the driver's side. Initially my partner pulled right up next to it and when I saw what it was I made him backup. He didn't know what kind of snake it was and I had no idea how far it can strike, Does anyone know ? It then started coming towards the car and I made him back up some more. It eventually slithered across the road but it was pretty slow. Also, can anyone tell if it is a male or female ? Thanks !

Kellyee, awesome pics of a beautiful Puffie With regards to the striking distance, it is a bit difficult - it depends on the situation and the size of the snake. If the mouse is 5cm in front of it, it only needs to strike 5cm forward. If it needs to strike further, it can also do that. For the snake in your pics, I will guess around 20 - 30cm. But that is only a guess!! Please don't be fooled by their slow moving. It is definitely one of the fastest striking snakes we have in South Africa. From what I can see in your pics, I will say it is a male. Males have longer tails than females since the sex organs are situated in the base of the tail. And for me, this tail looks quite long...

after breaking our tent in the Kalahari a few weeks ago, we found this beauty under our tent

I would like to add that the night before my daughter and I had heard noises which sounded like a digging animal and had even felt little pushes inside the tent...at the time I shrugged them off, thought they had come from mice....but now I wonder...could it really have been this very puff adder?

logically thinking, there I see three possibilities:

a) the adder had only spent a few hours of our final night under the tent; the noises and movements from 36 hours before had indeed come from another animal

b) even 36 hours ago, it was the same snake but she had not spent the entire 36 hours under the tent, maybe had left and simply come back